


Febuwhump Prompt Fills Starksnack

by starksnack



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Blood, Blood and Gore, Break Up, Broken Bones, Canon-Typical Violence, Drug Use, Emotional Abuse, Established Relationship, Face Punching, Febuwhump, I Made Myself Cry, Infidelity, Kidnapping, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Men Crying, Non-Consensual Touching, Only in this fic, Panic Attacks, Taken, Trapped, Trapped In Elevator, Where Are You, bullied, so i didn't tag above
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-20 22:50:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17631236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starksnack/pseuds/starksnack
Summary: My fills for @spidersonangst's Febuwhump prompts.





	1. Trapped

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ohmyhiddles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmyhiddles/gifts).



> I'm gifting this to my queen, Ava. I was too late to do Whumptober for her so I hope she enjoys this pain just as much.  
> Please mind the tags

Tony could not wait to get to the common room and use Steve as a pillow. It was just after lunch so Steve would be lounging on the couch, waiting for Tony to be a good boy and come up for snuggles. Probably reading one of his silly poetry books that he knew Tony found absolutely endearing. Tony loved the warmth rising in his chest as the elevator started its surge upwards from the basement.

God, he could already smell Steve. Leather, wood, Irish soap and peak male masculinity. Tony couldn’t wait to bury his face in Steve’s chest and take a much needed nap. Maybe Steve would even carry him to bed and tuck him in before lazily fucking him into the mattress. Now that Tony was out of the workshop, he felt like he could sleep for a week. He couldn’t wait to be in Steve’s arms.

That’s when the elevator creaked to a stop, an ominous thud accompanying the emergency lights. Tony frowned stabbing his finger into the call help button and waiting for the click of the help line.

It didn’t come.

“Jarvis,” Tony called, not even caring that he was looking up at the ceiling like he always teased Steve about doing. “Jarvis, buddy, what’s wrong with the elevator?”

The lack of answer was even more worrying. His heart flipped in his chest, banging on the bars of his rib cage as his eyes scanned the ceiling. The camera light wasn’t blinking. The system was offline, which meant a threat because even the backup generators hadn’t kicked in.

Tony smacked his palms against the metal elevator doors, the dull thumps echoing in his chest as his breathing quickened in his chest. He heaved a gasp spots dancing in his vision as he screamed, the desperation grating in his voice as he called for help.

He pressed his palm to the arc reactor feeling the steady hum under his fingertips as he tried to get his breathing back under control.

So he was trapped in the elevator. No big deal. Steve would eventually try to bring him down food and realize the elevator was broken, then he could call for help and someone would rescue Tony and then he could get nice I missed you and can’t believe you were so scared sex. That was always Tony’s favourite part.

He sat down in the corner of the elevator to wait it out. He would be rescued eventually. If it wasn’t his boyfriend, then Pepper would definitely be swinging by to berate him about something or the other regarding the company and his less than stellar actions.

Tony rapped his fingers in a soothing beat against the metal casing of the arc reactor, the steady best in time with his heart as he tried to calm himself down.

He tilted his head back against the wall glad he hadn’t done for glass elevators like they had at shield. While it would have been helpful for getting someone’s attention, though unlikely because they were so high up, Tony hated heights. He wrung his fingers in his lap, chewing on his lip as his stomach grumbles angrily.

There was that too. When he was in an engineering binge, it was easier to forget about eating and drinking and anything that wasn’t creating until he made a god particle or Steve came down and dragged him up for air.

He wanted Steve so bad, his blue eyes and the delicate swoop of his hair. He tried not to do it often, but Steve still loved coifing his hair whenever he could. The media always tore him apart when he did bring the forties back but they were usually distracted by whatever Tony was wearing to draw their attention away from his adorable partner.

A desperate craving for the feel of Steve’s milky fingers tracing up and down his spine swelled in his hips. He longed for the hitch of bated breath and the gasping kisses that dragged against his lips in the best kind of pleasure

With a sigh, he let his head fall against the doors. Tony pressed the fire call button again, but he couldn’t seem to get it to work no matter how hard he stabbed the little red firefighter hat. 

Tony pressed his fingers into the space between the elevator doors, trying to pull them apart. The metal wouldn’t even budge and Tony screamed in frustration as one of his nude-painted nails chipped under the pressure. Pepper was going to fucking murder him. He had just gotten a manicure and she had finally gotten her turn to pick out the colour.

He leaned forward, his head banging against the door as he tried to get his breathing under control. He was hysterically sobbing now, tears pinging against the metal floor as his fingers scrabbled against the corners in search of a weak point.

A grating against his vocal cords shot agony through his chest and down his throat until he couldn’t breathe against the enormous pain. With a grunt, Tony slumped to the floor, the tension forcibly leaking out of his shoulders as his body inched closer to unconsciousness. He sat up, shaking his head in an effort to clear it as he pulled his knees up to his chest, pillowing his head on his arms. 

He just had to wait it out. One of the Avengers would eventually realize the power was cut, discover that their favourite genius was missing and start looking for him.

“Jarvis?” Tony’s breath was a barely audible whisper as he looked up at the ceiling.

The silence around him was isolating, and oppressive wave against his struggling lungs as he drowned in the pale red of the emergency lights. He pushed his head between his knees, wheezing air out of his lungs.

Jarvis was down and Tony hated that the most. Having no one to talk to as he slowly felt himself losing to his panic, sipping out of consciousness.


	2. Bullied

Tony stuck his head into his locker trying to fight back the tears that kept rearing their ugly head. He and Steve were clearly no longer together after the night before and he hated himself because it was all his fault.

He didn’t quite know what he’d done wrong, but he always seemed to fuck up everything good in his life. He’d been hoping Steve would be different but Tony always managed to break everything he laid his fingers on.

He took a deep breath, the sound of the bell startling him out of his calm reverie. Tony sighed, a deep one that grated on his nerves. He didn’t feel like class but he couldn’t afford to skip another one without disciplinary action. It didn’t matter that he was acing every class despite not being there for most of them.

He grabbed his economics textbook shutting his locker door with an echoing slam. If he hurried, he could probably make it to his class before his teacher marked him tardy. Alternatively, Tony could head out to his car. His fingers itches for a cigarette, his lungs aching for the slow drag. The first time since he’d gotten together with Steve.

It was just more proof that he was already gone. Tony shut his eyes taking another steadying breath.

He was on the floor a second later, economics book sliding away from him to smack against the bank of lockers.

He looked up, messy curls falling into his eyes as Justin Hammer advanced on him. He scrambled to his feet hands held up in a defensive position. Steve always hated when he threw punches so he had promised he wouldn’t. But Steve has never said anything about deflecting blows.

Tony wiped the blood dripping from his nose. The twinge that rang through his skull probably meant it was broken. It was great for the whole bad boy who drives a motorcycle and chain smokes image, but not great for the whole son of a billionaire needs to stay out of trouble persona his mom made him promise to keep in exchange for staying in public school over the formative boarding school his dad had suggested.

Tony stepped back letting Hammer’s swing glance off his shoulder instead of meeting his cheekbone. Breaking a cheekbone would have hurt a lot more than the painful throb arcing like fire through his arm. At least it was his left arm and now his rights.

“Steve’s not coming to save you this time,” Hammer sneered stepping forward. The shock of the statement gave Hammer the opening he needed to slam a foot into Tony’s shin and send him crashing to the floor.

Because he was right. Tony had caught Steve kissing another girl at a party the night before. He hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to his soon to be ex boyfriend about it but it was clear where they both stood.

He had always suspected that he was a charity case. Steve, class president and captain of the baseball team, was always too perfect for him. He had everything going for him. The perfect swoop of his sunny blond hair, his pearly row of straight teeth that could curve into the most radiant smile, the bright future he had ahead of him. All Tony could ever do was bring him down and hold him back.

Hammer kicked him straight in the ribs but Tony didn’t even feel the impact over his heart pounding against the bars of his rib cage. He hadn’t even noticed the tears streaming down his face until Hammer was sneering at him and calling him a crybaby.

“Hey!” Tony flinched, curling in tighter around himself as Hammer stepped on his fingers. “Hey get the fuck off him.”

And it was out of the frying pan and into the fire as Tiberius Stone shoved Hammer away from him and into the bank of lockers. Because while he could take Hammer whaling on him, he wasn’t sure he could stand to face Ty.

“That little brat,” Hammer spat pointing an indignant finger at Tony, “has been causing problems and showing me up since day one.” Hammer shoved at Ty’s chest as Tony pushed himself up on shaky arms, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

“I’ll take care of it,” Tony recognized the smile in Ty’s voice as he released Hammer, pushing him in the opposite direction. Tony’s lungs rioted and he coughed up more blood, his nose screaming and ears ringing as he shook his head to try and clear it.

Tony’s stomach roiled, but there was nothing left in him to vomit as Ty helped him stand. He squeezed his eyes shut against the decimating wave of nausea. There was a twang in his chest that indicated a broken rib as Ty gently ran a hand down his shoulder and across his pecs. “I got you baby, you’re safe.”

“No thank you,” Tony whimpered a wheeze punching out of him as talking put pressure on his aching nose. He lifted a hand to wipe his face, his sleeve coming away crimson.

“Come on,” Ty slid his hand down Tony’s chest to his stomach, just above his belt. “I just went through all the trouble of stopping Justin from kicking the shit out of you.” Tony flinched away from him and Ty was immediately soothing him, pressing an unwelcome kiss to his throbbing cheek. “This is the least you can do for me.”

Tony clenched his trembling fingers into fists before nodding, eyes wet. It was his fault for getting into this situation. The least he could do was go home with Ty. Then he wouldn’t have to explain this whole mess with campus security. Or face Steve when he inevitably found out about the messes Tony continually made. Tony shakily stood to his feet hating the shivers that followed Ty’s fingers running down his back to slide into his back pocket, squeezing gently.

Tony let himself be led out of school.

  
  



	3. Taken

Everyone always said that Starks were made of Iron. Tony just wished for once that he was made of something that didn’t get him kidnapped so often… Money. Tony wished he wasn’t made of money, so douchecanoes didn’t keep kidnapping him for ransom that was barely a couple of quarters off his dad’s back. Not to mention, that Stark Industries didn’t negotiate with terrorists so that always meant a couple of extra beatings for Tony.

He felt the car underneath him roll to a stop, and then doors were opening and slamming shut, foreign voices talking in low tones. All the sounds were muffled by the damp black bag pulled over his head. It smelled like the inside of a granny’s purse, like those weird strawberry candies and old people. His hands were zip tied behind his back which made lying in what he assumed was the footwell of the car extremely unpleasant.

Tony wondered if his kidnapper of the week took cues from shitty D-list movies. Honestly, Tony could arrange a better kidnapping for himself. The bed of a truck would be more inconspicuous because you could pull a tarp over the top. It wouldn’t look out of place. The bumps in the road indicated they were somewhere in upstate New York.

Foreign hands hauled him out of the car and like cattle, he was prodded across what felt like a mucky field. What an exciting change from the usual backdrop of an abandoned warehouse. Tony crossed the threshold of wherever they had hauled his sorry ass to. He found that out when his feet met the door jamb and he was sprawling on his face, raucous laughter echoing around him and transporting back to his middle school days. He felt his shoulder pop out of his socket, and boy was that fucking painful. Tony gritted his teeth against the shocks running through his arm, squeezing his eyes tight against the panic in his heart.

Just as he got his breathing into a semblance of control, he was yanked back to his feet by a hand, gripping his hair over the bag on his head. He screamed as he felt some of the silky strands being pulled out. He didn’t blow an arm and a leg on shampoo and conditioner to be treated like a peasant.These assholes should be bowing down to him, he clearly had the preference of the hair gods.

Tony tried to calm himself down by twiddling his thumbs behind his back as he was pushed on to his knees, the bag ripped off his head as bright white light flooded his vision. There was a skylight above him letting in the incandescent sun and Tony felt like crying in it’s beautiful radiance. At least this place had a view. The natural light really opened up the room, made it look less serial killer and more stockholm syndrome.

The clouds in his vision slowly ebbed away as the drugs they had sedated him with earlier finally wore off. It sucked because the loopy calm and nonchalance he had lulled himself into disappeared as the drug left his system. That’s when the true terror and panic set in as Tony’s heart picked up the pace in his chest. Just because he got kidnapped often didn’t make it easier to bear. He twisted around trying to get his hands under him so he could push himself to his feet.

“Not so fast.” A boot made contact with his stomach and he doubled over, coughing as his internal organs gurgled in a way that Tony had never experienced before. He tried to straighten against the burning pain stretching across his abdomen but found himself hunching over again as a stinging slap connected with his cheek. This certainly wasn’t how kidnappings usually went. Most were too uptight to get their hands dirty roughing up a billionaire genius child.

“My dad will give you the money,” Tony groaned lurching violently as his hair was pulled. “Just please stop hitting me.”

There was a blade at his throat, pressing just enough to draw blood, but not hard enough to be anything more than a thin line. Tony squealed anyway like a stuck pig, trying to push back and away from the stinging sensation far too close to his jugular.

“I don’t think I told you to speak.” The voice was cold, calculating. Clearly American, though Tony couldn’t deduce much else because of the panic swelling in his chest and freezing his heart in his ribs. Tony resisted the urge to shiver, knowing the motion would only press the blade closer to his throat. He forced himself to relax, panicked tears welling in his eyes as he pursed his lips together to keep from crying out again.

“Let him go,” the voice behind him was distinctly female following the clack of heels as a strong slender woman stepped into his view in a burgundy pencil skirt that could make even Pepper cry. “We do not want your father’s money, Mr. Stark.” She rubbed her fingers together, nails painted an ugly red as she looked Tony up and down. “We need someone to head our weapons development. You will leave here after you give us what we want, or you will leave here in a body bag. The choice is yours.”

Tony steeled himself, setting his jaw. He was better than these assholes. He was the son of adversity and hope. He could overcome any problem he set his mind to and these assholes would never hold a candle to his pure unadulterated genius. Intelligence swirled in his whisky eyes, defiant as he tilted his chin up. Stark men are made of Iron. Tony was made of courage and bravery and strength. Like the gladiolus his mother grew in the summertime. Like the vibranium his father used to craft the world’s most recognizable shield. It was time to test his mettle and prove his worth.

“Go to hell.”

They were valiant last words.


	4. "Where are you?"

Tony touched down in California, his heart racing as the suit let him out. He took several shaky steps before collapsing to his knees, his breaths coming out in heavy pants as he keeled over. There was still a shrill ringing in his ear as he tried to rein in his racing heart.

The strident tones turned out to be his cell phone and he dug in to his pocket in search of the offensive device. He really didn’t feel like talking to anyone. Especially not Steve.

It had been absolutely awful. He had gone out and bought Steve a new art set. Block paints to go with his watercolour pens and a whole new pad of sticky notes. He had gone all out for their anniversary buying out a whole art store. Steve’s medium had always been pencil to paper so Tony had bought him a whole slew of new pens and lead pencils from the best brands Jarvis could dig up.

He had put everything in a huge basket, a nice black ring box nestled on a mountain of art supplies. He had been in his lab all night. Looking forward to seeing Steve and giving him the gift to see his eyes light up, the beautiful cerulean light.

He had made breakfast for Steve in bed. A whole mountain of eggs with a side of bacon and sausage. Super soldier had to eat. He had been taking classes with a personal chef to surprise Steve with an anniversary dinner and he had all the ingredients ready to go. He finished with a side of orange juice and a bowl full of chocolate covered strawberries that they could share after Tony woke him up with his mouth.

He was surprised that he didn’t drop the platter when he stepped into the room to find Steve sprawled out across their bed in just his boxers with Sharon lying across him.

It was bad enough that Tony was getting cheated on. But with a family friend? And a woman? That cut really fucking deep.

Tony backpedaled out of his room, shaking hands clutching the tray like his life depended on it. If he dropped it, Steve’s augmented hearing would surely pick up on the noise and he would have to face him. He set it on the table beside the art basket, digging into the present and wrenching open the ring box. He carefully pried the vibranium band from it’s cushion. He thought their love was the strongest there was. Turned out it couldn’t stand up to a busty blonde.

And then without looking back, Tony headed to the landing deck, the suit assembling around him as he jumped off toward Malibu. He heard his name yelled from behind him, probably a trick of the wind, as Jarvis plotted a course to his west coast home.

“Tony?” Pepper’s voice cut through his reverie and his head shot up, still woozy as he scrambled to his feet. His eyes were still red from the tears that had escaped during the flight over. Pepper’s smile was soft even though the lines of her grey dress were as harsh as the severe knot of her hair. She slowly ran a hand over his shoulders. “Oh Tony,” she cupped his cheeks brushing her thumbs over his closed eyelids. “Come inside, let me get you something to eat.”

Tony shakily stood to his feet, his hands trembling like a leaf in a damp wind as Pepper led him in through the entryway and to the large white couch. She had been using the house while running Stark Industries from the California headquarters, taking up residence in the guest bedroom.

Just as he crossed the threshold, Jarvis was speaking up, his British lilt holding a hint of indignation. “Excuse me sir, but Captain Rogers is on the line and demanding to be put through. He is using his emergency access and therefore I am being overridden.”

Before Tony could even brace himself he was floored by the deep baritone of Steve’s timbre. Tony raised anxious hands to his hair, burying his fingers in his tangled curls. Images from this morning flicked past his eyelids and he squeezed his eyes shut against the sensory overload.

“Tony,” Steve’s voice sounded unmoored. A shivering frantic and Tony could picture him running his frustrated fingers through his hair. “Tony where are you? I got up this morning and you weren’t in the workshop. Is everything alright. I had plans to go to your favourite restaurant for our anniversary.”

There were so many ways Tony wanted to respond, the first being “fuck you very much you cheating buffoon,” but Tony had a lot more class than that. Years of practice taught him that his mouth wasn’t always the best way to get out of any situation. He needed time to process. To really get over Steve and steel himself for the emotional turmoil of a conversation.

“Cut the call,” Tony whispered, waving his hands in the air. Jarvis immediately acquiesced, the room falling into silence as Tony breathed heavily. “I want his administrator access revoked, protocols put into place so he can’t use the emergency access to contact me for anything that isn’t an emergency.”

Pepper rubbed a hand across his shoulders her gaze questioning even as she comforted him. She slowly led him into the kitchen, digging through the cabinets for his favourite blue mug, and fishing the expensive coffee out of the pantry. Tony found some cookies in one of the cupboards, and some ice cream in the freezer. If he and Pepper were having a pity party, they would do it right.

Tony could do this. He would move his projects to California and head R&D from the safety of his lab. He would deal with all Avengers business in his suit. He would defer all press related events to the rest of the Avengers.

He would never speak to Steve Rogers off the battlefield, ever again.


	5. Major Character Death

Tony was snuggled up with Steve on the couch, playing little spoon and watching reruns of Parks and Rec when they got the blaring call to assemble. They were the only two Avengers left on duty in the tower, so it was unspoken that they would be the ones doing threat assessment this time. Tony didn’t think much of it, just pressed his lips to Steve’s before heading to the landing deck to suit up.

It was only moments later that Steve was following him out of the tower, stepping on to Tony’s boot and wrapping his hands around his torso as Tony took to the sky. Having Steve tucked against him as they flew was probably the best thing feeling he could experience. He always loved kissing Steve’s ruddy cheeks and running his fingers through the swoop of his windswept blond hair after a windy flight.

There were evil robots on 23rd, the usual mess Tony hated and loved. He fell into a familiar rhythm with Steve, providing air support and watching his six. Any robot that got close was immediately dealt with while Steve tried to find any way to dismantle them all at once. He suspected a hive mind, something like the Chitauri invasion that had brought them together what felt like forever ago.

Tony had Jarvis tracing a signal when suddenly the HUD went dim and he was falling from nearly thirty feet in the air.

He hit the ground with a dull thud that reverberated in his chest. There was a searing pain in the back of his head and he vaguely registered the damp feeling of his hair.

“Tony?” Steve’s fingers were digging in to the release latches, prying up the sides of the faceplate so he could look Tony in the eyes. Tony winced as Steve ran his fingers over what felt like a nasty gash in his forehead. His grew wet as he lifted a shaking hand to his comms, “I need medical immediately,” his voice cracked as he ran a gently hand down Tony’s face, “hurry.”

Behind him, Tony watched the whole slew of robots crumple. Probably EMP based weaponry but nothing from their side. Tony felt a stabbing in his chest as it dawned on him. It was a trap designed to lure him in and shut off the arc.

Steve was full on sobbing into him, his hands flailing like he didn’t know what to do as he slid his finger into the scanner under Tony’s arm to release the rest of the armour. The chest plate came off and Tony felt Steve’s hand fall to the arc reactor. A quick glance down confirmed his suspicions. It had gone devastatingly dark.

There was a low whimpering noise that Tony realised was coming from him as Steve cried into his chest, tears falling down Tony’s own face and tracking painfully through the blood collecting on his skin.

“I love you Steve,” and once the words started they wouldn’t stop, flowing from his lips like a never ending tidal wave of absolute devotion. Tony fought to catch Steve’s eyes, to convey everything his words wouldn’t. A million apologies that Tony would never get the chance to make up for. They were a week away from their first anniversary.

Tony could feel the heavy weight on his ring finger. He had had to rebuild that part of the suit to accommodate the slender vibranium band. He loved the feeling of it, pressing his fingers up against the armour to push the metal into his warm skin. A firm reminder of all the promises he had made Steve. All the time he had devoted to his beloved.

Five years of dancing around each other, four years of dating, and Tony wouldn’t even make it to their first anniversary. While Tony had loved their arguments, Tony wished that they had spent more time loving each other. More time pressing kisses to damp skin in the shower. More time sharing milkshakes at Steve’s favourite diner. More time holding hands under the table at debriefs to annoy Fury. It would never be enough to satisfy the devastating ache for Steve in the depths of his hips.

He needed more time. He need to be able to wake up another morning with Steve by his side. He needed to be able to kiss away his pout one more time. He needed to be able to watch one more movie curled into Steve’s side. He just needed more time to be able to love him with everything he had.

“I love you Steve, always,” Steve had managed to get his left hand out of the gauntlet, tearing his gloves off so he could lace their fingers together. He was peppering kisses across Tony’s knuckles, extra ones where his wedding ring sat as tears dampened his fingertips.

“Stay with me please, Tony, medical is almost here.” Steve cradled his head, hunching over as he cried into Tony’s neck, “I can’t do this without you.” Steve looked absolutely wrecked, his beautiful full lower lip wobbling, “Tony, please I need you to hold on.”

And Tony immediately knew he couldn’t. He would never make Steve a promise he couldn’t keep. How stupid of him it was to promise his beloved always, once upon a time he had been so naive. His lungs seized as the stabbing in his chest increased tenfold.

“I love you, always-” his breath hitched and he shakily raised a hand to cup Steve’s cheeks as the shrapnel shredded his aching heart. There was a stabbing pain pushing against his darkening subconsciousness, spots dancing across his vision, drowning out everything except his beloved’s eyes. Blue as the sky, as the deepest oceans, and the blanket of stars that always kept Tony warm at night. Like coming home to the pattern of rainfall on the windows and a glass of fresh water after months in the scorching desert. Blue like safety. Like happiness. Like “Steve-”

And everything was blue.


	6. Torture

Tony frowned, his eyes fluttering open. He couldn’t feel Steve against him which was weird because he always woke up to a super soldier pillow. Steve had started waking up a little later, and Tony a little earlier, so they could shower together. Tony was nothing if not an environmentalist, hence his clean energy initiative and his efforts to conserve water. Steve’s mouth was also a fantastic motivator.

Tony wrinkled his nose, it was dark, the light of the arc reactor only illuminated a small patch of what felt like a large room. It should have been freezing cold but instead it was a stifling warm, damp and oppressive. It crawled over his skin and felt like the worst cloying film over his teeth.

He tried to run a hand over his face but found them tied above him. So he wasn’t in his and Steve’s bedroom, unless Steve had suddenly lost his mind and decided to try something new without telling him. His hands were suspended above his head, the tips of his toes just barely brushing the floor beneath him bare feet. It felt like concrete so he was definitely nowhere in the tower. He couldn’t feel the weight of his wallet in his pocket, hell, he didn’t even think he was wearing pants, or a shirt for that matter, but he still had his boxers so thank Thor for small mercies.

There was a sharp creaking from the left, and Tony flinched away. His wrists burned as the rope dragged against them. His toes left the ground and he scrambled to get them back down before the panic accelerated.

“Mr. Stark,” Tony recognized that voice, but he couldn’t quite place it. It was low, sultry, seductive, and clearly female. Tony felt an uncomfortable shiver wrench down his spine. “They tell me you are a genius.”

Who wouldn’t have said that? Literally everyone knew of his unrivaled intelligence, but Tony didn’t really feel like getting sassy with someone he couldn’t see. He remained quiet his eyes straining against the darkness to gain some semblance of control. The rope was already cutting into the skin of his wrists, he just hoped it wouldn’t scar, Pepper would kill him. It would also give Steve an excuse to mother-hen him and while he loved getting hand fed blueberries and chocolate, he didn’t really feel like being watched like a hawk for months until Steve thought he was better (he wouldn’t).

“We want the secrets of the super soldier serum?” Her words washed over Tony, freezing his blood in his veins. He shivered involuntarily as she continued to talk. “We know the SHIELD data is incomplete because you deleted a lot of information, and we know there are certain aspects of the serum that are only stored in your brain.” There were fingernails on the back of his skull and Tony bit back a scream.

“Stay away from me,” Tony growled in the darkness, his shoulders aching as he wrenched away from the hands fisted in his sweaty brown curls.

“We will let you leave, when we have the answers we desire,” Tony hated that he couldn’t see the fingernails dragging across his body, leaving raised red lines everywhere they went. Tony held back the wretched scream in his throat as she dug her sharp talons into the tender scar tissue surrounding the arc reactor. He glanced down at her black painted fingernails, drawing blood. “Just tell us what was deleted from the file, and you can go back to your perfect life. Your husband, your picket fence, and your 2.5 kids.”

“Get the fuck off me,” Tony snarled, he put all his weight on the ropes holding him, pulling his feet to his chest and kicking out behind him. A rush of satisfaction hit him as he heard the woman’s oof. He could hear the shuffling noised of her getting to her feet, but she stayed behind him and out of the light of the arc reactor.

“I tried to be nice.” A silver clasp was raised to his chest and Tony tried to squirm away as she pushed him into it. There was an all to familiar snikt sound and Tony struggled as the arc reactor was slowly pulled from his chest, careful so as not to rip out the leads at the bottom of the plating. She slowly circled around him so she could get a better look at his bloody chest. In the light of the reactor, Tony could see her face, blonde hair and red lips washed in pale blue light. Tony recognized her as one of the trainees from the Red Room. Natasha had mentioned her name once, but Tony couldn’t for the life of him remember it now.

“I don’t know anything about the serum.” Tony lied, gritting his teeth as she disconnected the copper wire. Tony hated the stinging pain in his chest, the panic racing up his spine as his breath came out in heavy pants. He hated how his own body screamed at him to betray Steve when his words would never never spill anything that could hurt his beloved. He closed his eyes, trying to blank out the rest of the world. There was no way Steve and the team could get here in time and there was no way Tony was giving this blonde bimbo what she wanted. 

“Don’t waste your breath lying to me,” she hissed, her red painted lips curling around the word like it was poisonous. “I know you saw it, and I know you remember every little detail about your precious husband.”

“Over my dead body,” Tony gasped pulling at his bound hands as he slumped forward. He coughed wetly, tears welling in his eyes against his will. His eyes fluttered closed as he choked on his breath, wheezing heavily. His head lolled as he lost consciousness, a loud roar echoing in his ears as the clang of vibranium against metal reverberated in his chest.


	7. Imprisoned

God it had been what felt like years, though it was only three months, on a goddamn alien planet. And they didn’t even know if backup was ever coming. If they would ever leave this hell hole where Steve was forced to fight and Tony was forced to build. Both of them used as weapons and turned into the monsters they fought every single day they put on their uniforms.

The only bright side, was that they were together. They made it obvious from the start that neither of them would work without the other, even if they were tortured and beaten and degraded, so their captors allowed them each other’s company at the end of every gruelling day.

That was the only good thing about their whole situation. They had started out arguing, they had always been oil and water, only a united front in the presence of their enemies, but eating away at each other’s patience in the privacy of each other.

And then slowly, they had stopped constantly nipping at each other’s heels, exhaustion and hopelessness and fear, pulling them together until Tony couldn’t fall asleep without Steve’s chest under his head. Until he couldn’t wake up without Steve’s warm, hazy voice in his ear. Until Steve was the sun he revolved around in this strange foreign environment. He had it bad.

They slept on a bed of what felt like hay, but Steve made it comfortable snuggling up to him whenever he could. There was a bucket in the corner that was cleaned out twice a day and a small hole in the wall that produced a murky grey water whenever they pushed a lever. It wasn’t the luxuries of Stark tower, but Steve made it enough to get by. To wake up every morning and try to get through the day so he could get back to his cell and fall asleep curled into Steve.

Thinking back, Tony remembered being reluctant to touch Steve, hesitating hands and questioning glances every time they did make contact. It had stopped being an embarrassing thing, the second night they both shivered in the colder climate of the alien planet, Tony’s need for Steve’s higher body temperature growing as the night wore on. And here he was now, unable to get through the day without Steve’s lips against his forehead in the mornings, and their legs tangled together at night.

It was prison, but Steve, always hopeful, always mustering up a smile, his dirty hair and his chapped lips, Steve made it bearable. With careful kisses pressed to his dirty skin and trembling fingers carding through his greasy hair. Tony sank into his beautiful dark azure eyes, enveloped in the blanket of stars in his gaze. Steve kept him grounded. Until they took him too.

It had been a long day and Tony couldn’t wait to curl up on Steve’s chest, fall asleep in his arms to the sound of his steady, strong heartbeat. They weren’t more than friends yet, Tony was hoping to wait until they got back to Earth to ask Steve out, but they were sure a lot closer than best friends.

But his captors didn’t lead him to the same room they always did. He was thrown into a different cell, a smaller one without a straw bed or a weird water hole. Tony frowned turning around to face the alien who had clearly led him to the wrong cell. The species inhabiting the planet were not the small green men of Hollywood but tall grey humanoid creatures. Tony probably would have lost his mind if they didn’t look at least a little bit familiar.

“Steve?” It was no use asking for anything else because the aliens didn’t understand much English. They had only picked up on the words Steve and Tony because it was the majority of the words Steve and Tony both said.

The alien furrowed it’s massive blue unibrow before opening what passed as it’s mouth. “Sold.”

Tony’s eyes widened stepping toward the blue figure only to have the bars of the cell slamming shut with a devastating rattle. Tony’s heart picked up in his chest as he smacked his palms against the metal, “what? Sold? Why?”

His captor only turned, floating back through the dark, damp corridors away from him. Tony called after him, his palms only turning a concerning red as he screamed himself horse after the alien. He could not do this without Steve. Their chances of survival if they were apart was stunningly low. Their chances of rescue had probably just dropped to less than one percent. Without Steve’s body heat he would be freezing through the night.

Tony missed him already, his eyes welling up with tears. He tried to hold them in, he was already starting to feel dehydrated. Steve always made sure he drank and used the bathroom when he got back to their cell at the end of each day. Then he would lay on their shitty bed, and wait for Tony to come and lie with him. And then Tony would fall asleep to the feeling of Steve’s fingers tracing pictures across his back, the rise and fall of Steve’s chest under him.

He wanted to run his fingers over the bridge of Steve’s nose one more time, the perfect slope. He wanted to drag his nails through Steve’s dirty blond tresses, pull one of those delicious groans of pleasure he always made when Tony’s hands found their way into his hair. He wanted to dig his thumbs into the muscles of Steve’s shoulders, working out the knots in the abused muscles and feeling the tension drain out of him.

Tony focused on the wall in front of him as he shifted, bringing his knees up to his chest. He felt a shiver creep up his spine, clenching his shoulders in it’s cold clutches. He missed Steve already.

He wished he’d told Steve he loved him

It was too late now.

It hurt

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Tumblr at [starksnack](https://starksnack.tumblr.com/)


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